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Nintendo will continue to do well in the years to come, regardless of the progress of emulation. Normal people don't care about emulation or the Steam Deck. The

Nintendo will continue to do well in the years to come, regardless of the progress of emulation. Normal people don't care about emulation or the Steam Deck. The Switch and the next iteration will continue to offer a just works experience which is what most people want. Nobody wants to be dealing with graphical/performance issues, pirating games etc. They just want to buy a game and play it.

autoexec 3y ago
> The Switch and the next iteration will continue to offer a just works experience which is what most people want. you say that like there weren't a ton of problems with the switch when it released. Reports of overheating, joycon random disconnects, joycon drift, and dock scratches were enough to make me skip over the system at launch and hold off for the next (hopefully XL) version. Now that it's been so long without an XL version, and the drift and overheating are still an issue (it's unclear how big a problem the scratches are now) I'm really considering just getting the steam deck instead. In terms of performance it looks like the steam deck has the switch beat. > But it really is stark to play these two devices and see the Steam Deck handily run all but the most taxing modern games at 60 frames per second (or better), while the Switch can't reliably play Batman: Arkham Knight, a game designed for last-gen consoles that released in 2015. (https://mashable.com/article/nintendo-switch-oled-vs-steam-deck-oled https://mashable.com/article/nintendo-switch-oled-vs-steam-d...) I agree that most people don't want to bother with downloading roms and playing with settings, but I don't think you can call the switch a "just works experience" either.
kevincox 3y ago
As someone with a partner who just likes to buy games and play the Steam Deck is definitely competition for the switch. She does realize that it is a full computer now because I exist but she has never actually entered "desktop mode" herself. She would have been perfectly happy just living in the Steam interface. Already it has a bunch of benefits: 1. Lots of games were sitting available and she just picked up and played them. She already owned them but didn't play much because she plays "on the go" more than at home. 2. Lots of games release earlier for PC than Switch (and she ended up buying many games multiple times to start playing when friends were but then again to play on the go). 3. Lots of Switch games lack cross-play so she would switch to PC for playing with friends. 4. For some games she does prefer to play on her desktop so save game syncing is really nice. 5. More games are available for PC than Switch. 6. Having a web browser handy is convenient, even if rarely used. Then I messed around with desktop mode to make some non-Steam apps and games available which is another nice plus. But even without this she prefers the Steam Deck over the Switch. I think there are still lots of people who would prefer the Switch, especially for the first-party exclusive titles. But I don't think you should just dismiss the Steam Deck. It may still be a bit niche but people are definitely caring about it. Even those who just want to play games.
- staticman2 3y ago
  I own a Steam Deck. It's a fairly glitchy experience, especially on a TV. With constant micro problems like "the steam deck won't restart when plugged into my Sony TV, physically unplugging the USB C cord is necessary". There's lots of fun issues like "Yes the Steam Deck supports Switch Pro Controller, but enable gyro controls and it will make a grinding sound when gyro is used" and "gyro controls work fine in handheld mode, but try them in Half Life 2 with a PS5 or Switch Pro Controller and the movement will be choppy and janky even though that game was supposedly updated for Steam Deck." There's also fun, more serious issues like a documented "Steam Deck crashes and reports low battery, refusing to even boot up for more than a few minutes if you have poor wifi signal" which necessitated getting a wifi booster. I also just got soft locked in Portal 2 due to a bug, requiring me to restart the chapter, my save was unbeatable as the elevator to go to the next level wouldn't operate, and I googled this error and it's also present in the Switch port of Portal 2. I guess Valve is too poorly staffed to patch a 13 year old game breaking bug. Valve seems to only finish their products to about 90% to 95%.

autoexec 3y ago

> The Switch and the next iteration will continue to offer a just works experience which is what most people want. you say that like there weren't a ton of problems with the switch when it released. Reports of overheating, joycon random disconnects, joycon drift, and dock scratches were enough to make me skip over the system at launch and hold off for the next (hopefully XL) version. Now that it's been so long without an XL version, and the drift and overheating are still an issue (it's unclear how big a problem the scratches are now) I'm really considering just getting the steam deck instead. In terms of performance it looks like the steam deck has the switch beat. > But it really is stark to play these two devices and see the Steam Deck handily run all but the most taxing modern games at 60 frames per second (or better), while the Switch can't reliably play Batman: Arkham Knight, a game designed for last-gen consoles that released in 2015. (https://mashable.com/article/nintendo-switch-oled-vs-steam-deck-oled https://mashable.com/article/nintendo-switch-oled-vs-steam-d...) I agree that most people don't want to bother with downloading roms and playing with settings, but I don't think you can call the switch a "just works experience" either.

kevincox 3y ago

As someone with a partner who just likes to buy games and play the Steam Deck is definitely competition for the switch. She does realize that it is a full computer now because I exist but she has never actually entered "desktop mode" herself. She would have been perfectly happy just living in the Steam interface. Already it has a bunch of benefits: 1. Lots of games were sitting available and she just picked up and played them. She already owned them but didn't play much because she plays "on the go" more than at home. 2. Lots of games release earlier for PC than Switch (and she ended up buying many games multiple times to start playing when friends were but then again to play on the go). 3. Lots of Switch games lack cross-play so she would switch to PC for playing with friends. 4. For some games she does prefer to play on her desktop so save game syncing is really nice. 5. More games are available for PC than Switch. 6. Having a web browser handy is convenient, even if rarely used. Then I messed around with desktop mode to make some non-Steam apps and games available which is another nice plus. But even without this she prefers the Steam Deck over the Switch. I think there are still lots of people who would prefer the Switch, especially for the first-party exclusive titles. But I don't think you should just dismiss the Steam Deck. It may still be a bit niche but people are definitely caring about it. Even those who just want to play games.

staticman2 3y ago
I own a Steam Deck. It's a fairly glitchy experience, especially on a TV. With constant micro problems like "the steam deck won't restart when plugged into my Sony TV, physically unplugging the USB C cord is necessary". There's lots of fun issues like "Yes the Steam Deck supports Switch Pro Controller, but enable gyro controls and it will make a grinding sound when gyro is used" and "gyro controls work fine in handheld mode, but try them in Half Life 2 with a PS5 or Switch Pro Controller and the movement will be choppy and janky even though that game was supposedly updated for Steam Deck." There's also fun, more serious issues like a documented "Steam Deck crashes and reports low battery, refusing to even boot up for more than a few minutes if you have poor wifi signal" which necessitated getting a wifi booster. I also just got soft locked in Portal 2 due to a bug, requiring me to restart the chapter, my save was unbeatable as the elevator to go to the next level wouldn't operate, and I googled this error and it's also present in the Switch port of Portal 2. I guess Valve is too poorly staffed to patch a 13 year old game breaking bug. Valve seems to only finish their products to about 90% to 95%.